The beginning of the 21st century has seen the global proliferation of portable electronic devices. These devices, such as cellular telephones, tablets, and cameras, which were once a novelty or luxury to most people, are now an integral and necessary part of the daily lives of many. Most of these devices rely on rechargeable electrochemical cells, typically referred to as batteries, for power. The most common means of charging the batteries is with the use of a USB wall mounted charger. The charger itself usually consists of a plug box containing a step-down transformer and an AC-DC converter or rectifier that is wired to a connecting plug. When in use, the plug box is plugged into a 120 V or 240 V mains socket and the connecting plug is coupled to the device. Though other means of charging batteries such as through a computer or portable battery pack are available the wall mounted charger is the most commonly used.
The necessity to plug the charger into the wall has many disadvantages. First, the electrical wall socket is seldom conveniently located. When laying out the locations for electrical sockets in a home it is common to put them low to the ground and in a location that can easily be hidden by furnishings. For example, it is common for a home to have a sofa with table lamps on one or both sides. These lamps are then plugged into a socket that is located and hidden behind the sofa. For purposes of plugging in an electrical charger this location is likely not convenient. Secondly, it may be difficult to gain access to an electrical outlet because of the limitation in the number installed or not in use by other devices. Thirdly, another disadvantage of plugging a charger into a wall-mounted electrical outlet is the limited range of the standard cord of the charger. If a person wishes to use a device while it is plugged in by the standard charger cord they will likely find themselves tethered to a wall by a 3 to 4 foot cord. A final disadvantage of a standard wall-mounted charger is that it is considered by many users to be unsightly and thus deserving of its nickname, the “Wall Wart”.
In recent years some manufacturers of electronics have sought to alleviate these problems by incorporating charging ports into common house hold items such as lamps and alarm clocks. Though this approach does provide a more convenient option for charging one's portable electrical devices, it still requires the purchase of such a device, which may be expensive. The inherent flaw of this approach is that a consumer may not be able to afford or may simply not be inclined to purchase such a device with a built-in charging port.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for an innovation that will overcome the drawbacks of prior art approaches and the problems that remain unsolved.